


Birds in Synchronized Flight

by carpemermaid



Series: Rebellious Birds [2]
Category: Carmen Sandiego (Cartoon 2019)
Genre: Bad Puns, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Future Fic, Happy Ending, Humor, Kissing, POV Gray | Crackle, Pining, Post-Season/Series 01, Romance, Team Dynamics, Trust, World Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-21
Updated: 2019-02-21
Packaged: 2019-11-01 21:20:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17875061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carpemermaid/pseuds/carpemermaid
Summary: Months later, Graham is given a second chance to join Carmen's side in the fight against V.I.L.E. This time he makes the right choice and slowly but surely their friendship mends. If only Graham had the courage to tell her how he feels.>> Epilogue to Rebellious Birds.





	Birds in Synchronized Flight

**Author's Note:**

> Ok so I couldn't leave well enough alone, and while I wanted to leave off on the ending I did for Rebellious Birds since it ended up being more of a character study for Graham, I still wanted to give them a firm happy ending after that Fake Out Make Out! Enjoy!

Graham bats Carmen’s hands aside and points to the delicate motherboard of the new device she’s working on.

“Look, you’ve got the inputs switched around,” he says.

She sits back and shoots him a flat look. He holds up his hands in surrender, mouth lifting into a sheepish smile. She has always hated it when he gives her the answer before she’s worked it out on her own.

“Only trying to help you sort it faster.”

“I would’ve figured it out without you telling me,” Carmen says in a breezy tone.

“That I have no doubt of, mate,” Graham says, leaning his hip against her work bench. “Pretty sure I remember telling you how you’re in a league of your own once.”

Carmen’s eyes dart to his and they remain locked in a stare for a few beats, the air growing thicker around them. 

They haven’t talked about what happened, but moments like this keep happening. Graham places his palm on the table and slides it closer to Carmen’s where it rests beside her tools. Their pinkies are about to brush when the mood breaks, interrupted by the siblings from Boston bursting into the room.

“Carm, tell Ivy you promised me we could get hot dogs while we’re in Germany!” Zack waves his arms around when he speaks and Graham likes that about him.

Ivy crosses her arms. “They’re not hot dogs, birds for brains, they’re _wurst_.”

Zack makes a scandalized face, as if he can’t believe his sister could utter such a thing. Graham snorts at Ivy’s joke and catches Carmen hiding a smirk.

“Hot dogs aren’t the worst, you’re the _worst_!” Zack declares.

“Relax, Zack. _Wurst_ is German for sausage. And yes, we can get some while we’re here,” Carmen says in explanation.

Zack melts in relief, wiping a hand over his face. Graham claps him on the shoulder and Zack grants him a smile. It hadn’t been easy to win over the rest of the team, but Zack was the first to let his guard down and give Graham a chance when Carmen recruited him to her side.

“Why don’t you two go on ahead of us and get started on your tour of sausages. There’s a lot of varieties they have to try—cooked, scalded, _raw_. Go nuts. There’s even a museum here for the first German bratwurst,” Graham says, nudging Zack to the door.

He brightens and grabs a hold of Ivy. “C’,mon, we gotta get started now if we’re gonna try them all.”

Ivy rolls her eyes and squints at Graham. She hasn’t fully come around on believing he’s not secretly a sleeper agent for V.I.L.E., but Graham’s hoping she’ll warm up to him soon. He likes her spitfire attitude and wants to earn the chance to be her friend.

“No funny business and I’m having Player call you in twenty minutes if you haven’t met up with us by then,” Ivy says, pointing a finger at Graham.

Aside from Player, who’s already given Graham the third degree when Carmen brought him back with her, Ivy also knows about the incident at the museum. Zack is the only one left in the dark.

“Of course,” Graham agrees. “I’ll show you a secret pub that does the best brats in the city. The last time I was in Germany I found it and—”

He cuts off at Ivy’s expression. She doesn’t like when he brings up Before, when he still worked for V.I.L.E. He inclines his head in apology and clears his throat.

“Anyway, I’ll show you where it’s at,” Graham says.

Ivy purses her lips and lets her brother drag her out. Graham relaxes and leans more heavily against Carmen’s table.

“Alone at last,” he quips.

Carmen smirks and taps a finger against her ear, where he knows Carmen has a communication device for when Player calls. She’s telling him they’re never really alone. He chuckles and rearranges himself to lean on his forearms to get a better look at the tracker she’s building.

“This is going to increase the range when you’re done fixing it up?”

“Yes, and Player will be able to triangulate with less time if the signal is lost,” Carmen says. “Thanks to your suggestion for rebuilding and repurposing the function of your Crackle rod.”

Graham hums and remains quiet while he watches her work, making precise adjustments to the tracker’s wiring. He could easily get lost watching her like this, with her eyebrows pinched in concentration and her gaze steady.

It’s only been a couple of months since Graham’s officially joined her team, working alongside Carmen instead of against her. They have yet to address that night at the museum, and more importantly that kiss, but he’s been around long enough to work a few jobs with them. It was like he pictured, he and Carmen putting their training to use casing jobs, two steps ahead of the law and their old family of thieves. They do make a good team.

They had crossed paths twice more since the museum, and each time Graham was more determined to talk to Black Sheep. At last, when they were both vying to nab a cultural statue away from V.I.L.E., she turned to him mid-sprint to reach the statue first and grabbed him by the collar to tell him if he helped her then she would finally listen to everything he wanted to say to her.

After, when they had the statue safely tucked away and thwarted Tigress and Mime Bomb from stealing it, they ended up at a cafe; Graham’s heart gave a twinge at the distant memory of when Carmen stood across the street and turned away from him in Sydney—if only he’d known who they both were back then.

They sat and she listened. When he was done apologizing, he filled her in on what happened after their train ride to Paris. Carmen’s face remained a solemn mask as he recounted how Professor Maelstrom and Dr. Bellum had zero tolerance for him being caught—Graham shuddered, remembering the detached way they told him _to fail is forgivable, but to allow yourself to be captured…_ right before Dr. Bellum erased his memories—but he could see emotion flickering through the cracks.

She reached across the table, once, and touched the back of his hand when he recounted what it was like when he finally had his memories back. Neither of them mentioned how it was only after kissing Carmen that they returned in full.

“I walked away from you in Sydney because I thought you’d been given a chance at a fresh start. I thought it would be best if I didn’t put a target on your back by being in your life,” Carmen explained with a regretful look on her face. She glanced away, watching the people walking by the cafe terrace. “And yet, you end up back in a life of crime anyway.”

“Old habits die hard,” Graham told her.

It took a bit of time, but their friendship was healing. A tension remains between them, simmering beneath the surface of every interaction they have. It’s the last barrier to truly having their previous level of trust restored, but Graham doesn’t know how to sort it.

“Aha!” Carmen says, holding up the tracking device and a precision screwdriver in triumph. “I’ve got it!”

“Knew you would,” Graham murmurs with a lopsided smile, chin propped in his hand.

“Let’s meet up with Ivy and Zack,” Carmen says, standing. She grabs her zip up jacket and ties her hair up in a bun. “I’m starving after that.”

Graham checks his watch. “And with seven minutes to spare before Ivy’s deadline. Impressive, Sneakaroo.”

The corners of Carmen’s mouth curl into a proud grin and she elbows him playfully when she slips by. “You know I like to win.”

“Oh yes,” Graham agrees with a laugh.

Carmen tugs on his arm and they leave the safe house to find Ivy and Zack. Carmen’s hand remains in the crook of Graham’s arm and neither of them do anything to point it out. An elderly couple that passes them on the street comments that they make a nice couple in German and Graham’s chest expands to make room for the butterflies taking over inside.

*******

It’s not until three months later while on a mission in Barcelona that things shift once again.

They’re both doing their parts, working well together just like old times. Carmen found the way into Park Güell with ease and they’ve kept to the shadows after marking out the way earlier, posing as a couple touring the park designed by one of Barcelona’s most celebrated artists.

V.I.L.E. wants to steal the architectural monuments in the park to devalue the tourism and build a resort off the coast of Barcelona that would fund their own operations with the revenue.

Carmen and her team aren’t going to let that happen.

They’ve been outsmarting V.I.L.E. Time and again, but they also have Inspector Devineaux and his partner hot on their tail once again. Ivy and Zack are off distracting and misleading him on a wild goose chase while Carmen and Graham do the real work they’re there to do.

Just as they finish putting El Topo and Le Chevre out of commission, a security guard catches sight of them near the gate.

Graham’s heart skips a beat and he turns to Carmen.

“Should we—?”

“I’ve got a better idea this time,” Carmen says and she grabs his hand, leaving their old V.I.L.E. classmates for the guards to find inside the park. “Follow me this way.”

Carmen leads him down alleyways, around the sloping city blocks and up a fire escape to access the roof. It draws more attention, but they quickly lose the guard chasing them once they’re hidden off the ground, crouched behind an old stone gargoyle. Carmen’s face is lit up with the exhilaration of the chase and Graham can’t help but laugh under his breath, the nervous adrenaline seeping out of his bones.

He slumps against the gargoyle and tips his head to the side, studying her face.

“Good one,” he says.

“Any minute now he’s going to circle back and find the little gift we left for him by his guard post,” Carmen says with relish in her voice.

Graham snorts and bumps her shoulder with his. “Is that the face you made when you tied me up like a trussed up Christmas turkey for the Interpol agent to find?”

“Maybe,” Carmen says, mischief flashing in her eyes. “You do make red look good.”

“Not as good as you, though.”

She bites her lip and remains quiet.

Player’s voice makes them both jump when he speaks in their ears. “Great work, guys. The guard just called in for back up from the local law enforcement to take care of suspicious characters detained in the park.”

Graham looks out in the direction of the park further up the hill. The way it’s lit at night makes it look like the gingerbread cottages he used to make with his grandmother. He runs a hand through his hair and crouches at the ready.

“I only hope if V.I.L.E. get their hands on those two that they don’t meet the same fate I did,” Graham mutters.

Carmen shoots a complicated look at him and jerks her head in the opposite direction.

“Returning to rendezvous with Zack and Ivy, Player. Radio silence until then, unless you spot a code green,” Carmen says.

“Got it,” Player says and signs off, leaving them in the quiet once more.

Graham follows Carmen’s lead and they scale the tops of buildings with only the light from the city to guide their way. They keep to the shadows when a squad car with sirens speeds down the road below.

They’re on a rooftop, pausing to get their bearings. They’re holding onto a tall spire for balance. Carmen’s backlit by the rising moon.

Graham freezes, heart in his throat.

“Carmen,” Graham murmurs, struck by everything he feels for her all at once.

It’s been slowly building but now it’s too much to ignore.

She turns to him, a question in her eyes, attention dropping to his parted lips. She’s higher than he is, nimbly finding footing on a piece of the architecture too small for Graham to climb to. He tells himself he’s her safety net, that he’ll catch her if she slips.

She won’t slip.

Graham watches as Carmen reaches up to remove her earpiece, wildly against her and Player’s protocol. She tucks it away in a pocket for safe keeping and does the same to Graham’s.

They really need to talk, he knows. They haven’t said anything about that night, but he can feel it beneath the surface in the months they’ve spent carefully piecing their friendship back together. He was afraid of pushing her before, worried that she thought it was a mistake, the thoughts kept him up at—

“Are you going to kiss me again, Gray?”

Graham can hear his heart beating in his ears. A breeze from the ocean rustles his hair and he adjusts his hold on the spire. Carmen climbs down to be on his level.

“Can I?” Graham breathes.

She quirks an eyebrow and tips her head slightly, angling her body towards him. He waits until she nods, and that alone makes his stomach drop out. He’s free falling all over again, and this time when her hands rest on his shoulders she’s not clinging on because the alternative is falling to her death. 

Graham tucks her hair back and adjusts the brim of her hat. He leans in and kisses her with a soft brush of his lips over hers. He shifts back far enough to see the playful smirk hiding in the corners of her lips and everything slots into place.

“We should really talk about before,” Graham whispers, too afraid to break the moment if he raises his voice any higher.

“Aren’t we doing that now? You’ve proven to me you’ve changed—that you’re not working for V.I.L.E.” She’s smiling at him and her eyes are full of the faith she had in him before graduation.

Carmen moves closer, fitting herself into his arms with ease. She fits there perfectly and Graham cradles her close. His heart threatens to burst free from his chest.

“Gray,” Carmen says. “It’s okay. I trust you.”

She reaches up to run her fingers through his hair and he lets her tilt his head. She presses her lips against his and he makes a raspy sound in the back of his throat. His arms tighten around her and he kisses her back with all the pent up need he’s been bottling up. Carmen hums into the kiss and runs her fingers along his jaw.

Graham doesn’t keep track of how long they kiss for, only that it’s long enough for his lips to feel swollen, the ghost of her lips against his still present once they stop. She bumps her forehead against his and tugs on a lock of his fringe. He huffs out a breathy laugh and hugs her, pressing his lips to the side of her neck just to feel her warmth.

They replace their ear pieces and wait long enough on their perch to watch the moon rising. It’s beautiful, but Graham’s eyes still stray to Carmen’s face, illuminated by the light from the moon. The world is at their feet and their future is entwined together ahead of them.

Carmen looks to him with a heart-stopping smile and reaches for his hand, tangling their fingers.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments + Kudos are ♥ | Come say hi on tumblr [@carpemermaidhearts](http://carpemermaidhearts.tumblr.com)!


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